We all know the rivalry. Grunge and glam clashing together like waves of the ocean onto cliff sides. The animosity, deeper than the pot holes that ravage the residential Los Angeles streets. So what gives? Why is this? I mean, really. These bands have way more in common than not. So why all grunge vs. glam bullshit in the rock/metal community? Grunge people say that glam isn’t cool and glam people say that grunge made real rock unpopular and in the long run. I think those are big fuckin words. And it get us nowhere folks. At this point we’re all in the rock/metal boat. The metal arch as I call it. For fucks sake Poison, Ratt and Motley Crue are all influenced by Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and KISS. Ya know who else is influenced by those bands? GASP!! Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Nirvana. Holy shit. I think the universe may explode! How can this be? How can scenes of such radical contempt for one another come from the same world? It just might be because it’s generally all the same. What drives me nuts is when grunge only listeners claim that there is no punk influence in glam. Where the fuck do you get that? Do you know what ‘Talk Dirty to Me’ is? A fucking punk song! It’s got a pop edge to it for sure. But that’s only 10 to 15% of the entire picture.
Major Punk influences going on here. Three chords and a one, two drum beat.
Also major punk influences. Just a slightly different attack and angle.
Yes, Pearl Jam is a bit darker and the production of the records is different. But at the end of the day these are both songs with the same formula. Good riffs, good drums and good vox.
And it goes the other way around. I can’t stand it when glam fans claim that grunge bands can’t play. Or that they don’t have any blues influence. And those that can or do don’t nearly hold a candle to their guitar gods of the Sunset Strip. Well, that’s total bullshit. Well, not total bullshit. Warren DeMartini is totally a superior player than say, Kurt Cobain. But that doesn’t mean Cobain isn’t valid. Or a good songwriter. Also, grunge is a big-tent form of rock. I argue that Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains is better than most of the guitar players out of the Sunset Strip. In fact, Alice in Chains is one of the greatest bands of all time period. And they sound way more like Motley Crue than Nirvana.
…Sounds way more like…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx0_mIxvbsc
…than…
It’s really hard to believe that Alice in Chains and Nirvana are both part of the same rock sub-genre. And Alice in Chains has clearly has much more of a similarity to Motley Crue than Nirvana. If you don’t hear it, get your ears checked out. In fact, most of the Seattle bands don’t sound like Nirvana or their lesser contemporaries Mudhoney. Again, going back to the question. Why all the hate? Why the rivalry? Do you really care that much about how rock stars dress? I guess if you do, then shit. You’re really fuckin missing out on some great music. And that’s on you yo!!
